Joseph Beuys is one of the greatest artists of the 20th century who opened the way of todays’ contemporary art. He is a German artist, theorist and professor in art. He is a founder of the art movement known as Fluxus and developed a theory on Social Sculpture. It is hard to place Beuys into a category as he has a unique set of mind and personality. Beuys had a firm believer that all people are the creators and have the ability to construct. He had experienced the world in such a way that he would contribute towards change. He also believed that the new generation is more independent than the previous generations and focused on his actions based on his thoughts and research by trusting the young people more than the status quo keepers. He pioneered many issues in such a natural way as well. For instance, he believed that human beings had to overcome the immaturity of destroying the planet, not only because this would save the planet to protect people’s survival but also to save our souls. He also believed that women are the protagonists of the future and we should let women lead the way towards a new, much needed change. He was not a feminist as the term is defined today but he thought that since we tried giving power to men, it was time to give space to women. He believed that everybody can be an artist and saw every human being as a living sculpture that he developed his theory of undeter- mined, momentum and form explaining on the triangle. For Beuys, art is total freedom and self-determination. He takes attention in politics and defends direct democracy through social sculpture. He believed that everybody can be an artist and he developed his activism based on this idea. In one of the public discussions, he said “we are talking about the theory. Throw out of my work from the window and focus on the current political situation. I want to increase the consciousness of the people. I don’t believe we live in human rights, democracy. I don’t believe that we are taught to be free human beings.” (Beuys, 2017) He believed that the societies should live beyond capitalism and socialism.
ARUCAD Faculty of Arts Year 3 Student
Mehveş Beyidoğlu